That speech sounds ... familiar somehow

Bill Pugliano / Getty Images

Rand Paul enjoys public speaking. He is, after all, a politician. And he likes to write: books, op-eds and such. But hey, he's a busy guy, representing the good folks of Kentucky in the Senate and conservatives everywhere. Oh, and like many politicians, he can be pugnacious. So when questions arose last year about certain, uh, similarities in some passages of Paul's speeches and op-eds to entries in Wikipedia and the like -- well, let's just say that his first instinct wasn't to fess up. No, his first instinct was to try something more old-fashioned with those he labeled "haters": "If dueling were legal in Kentucky, if they keep it up, you know, it would be a duel challenge. But I can't do that, because I can't hold office in Kentucky then." Now that's a conservative! But with the dueling deal a dud, someone stepped forward to, well, take a bullet for the boss. As the Washington Post reported: "A top aide ... acknowledged ... that Paul's staff in some cases failed to properly attribute and quote content pulled from other sources. "In the thousands of speeches and op-eds Sen. Paul has produced, he has always presented his own ideas, opinions and conclusions," senior adviser Doug Stafford said in a statement. "Sen. Paul also relies on a large number of staff and advisers to provide supporting facts and anecdotes -- some of which were not clearly sourced or vetted properly." OK. Sure. But as a reality TV show, the "Rand Paul Duel of the Week" would've put "Duck Dynasty" to shame.

Rand Paul enjoys public speaking. He is, after all, a politician. And he likes to write: books, op-eds and such. But hey, he's a busy guy, representing the good folks of Kentucky in the Senate and conservatives everywhere. Oh, and like many politicians, he can be pugnacious. So when questions arose last year about certain, uh, similarities in some passages of Paul's speeches and op-eds to entries in Wikipedia and the like -- well, let's just say that his first instinct wasn't to fess up. No, his first instinct was to try something more old-fashioned with those he labeled "haters": "If dueling were legal in Kentucky, if they keep it up, you know, it would be a duel challenge. But I can't do that, because I can't hold office in Kentucky then." Now that's a conservative! But with the dueling deal a dud, someone stepped forward to, well, take a bullet for the boss. As the Washington Post reported: "A top aide ... acknowledged ... that Paul's staff in some cases failed to properly attribute and quote content pulled from other sources. "In the thousands of speeches and op-eds Sen. Paul has produced, he has always presented his own ideas, opinions and conclusions," senior adviser Doug Stafford said in a statement. "Sen. Paul also relies on a large number of staff and advisers to provide supporting facts and anecdotes -- some of which were not clearly sourced or vetted properly." OK. Sure. But as a reality TV show, the "Rand Paul Duel of the Week" would've put "Duck Dynasty" to shame. (Bill Pugliano / Getty Images)

Rand Paul enjoys public speaking. He is, after all, a politician. And he likes to write: books, op-eds and such. But hey, he's a busy guy, representing the good folks of Kentucky in the Senate and conservatives everywhere. Oh, and like many politicians, he can be pugnacious. So when questions arose last year about certain, uh, similarities in some passages of Paul's speeches and op-eds to entries in Wikipedia and the like -- well, let's just say that his first instinct wasn't to fess up. No, his first instinct was to try something more old-fashioned with those he labeled "haters": "If dueling were legal in Kentucky, if they keep it up, you know, it would be a duel challenge. But I can't do that, because I can't hold office in Kentucky then." Now that's a conservative! But with the dueling deal a dud, someone stepped forward to, well, take a bullet for the boss. As the Washington Post reported: "A top aide ... acknowledged ... that Paul's staff in some cases failed to properly attribute and quote content pulled from other sources. "In the thousands of speeches and op-eds Sen. Paul has produced, he has always presented his own ideas, opinions and conclusions," senior adviser Doug Stafford said in a statement. "Sen. Paul also relies on a large number of staff and advisers to provide supporting facts and anecdotes -- some of which were not clearly sourced or vetted properly." OK. Sure. But as a reality TV show, the "Rand Paul Duel of the Week" would've put "Duck Dynasty" to shame.